Just as generative AI is coming into martech stacks, funds for it are falling to all-time lows. How then can marketing leaders make the case for expensive new tools when they need to make growth profitable? Getting the most out of your technology investments means coordinating your multichannel and martech plans.
When it comes to martech, budgets need to be rebalanced and creative AI needs to be adopted.
Years of heavy investment in martech have led to tech stacks that may be full of features but aren’t used well by marketers, or not at all in some cases. As new study from Gartner shows, complexity makes people less likely to use something, which makes CMOs wonder why they have spent so much on it but not seen much adoption. More and more, leaders are moving budgets to paid media, where they can help the business grow. This is happening at the same time that creative AI is coming out, which should make marketers more productive.
As an ironic twist, marketing leaders have to decide whether to adjust budgets for growth and return on investment (ROI) through media or buy more technology to make better use of the tools they already have.
In the past ten years, for example, marketers quickly adopted multichannel hubs to plan trips across all touchpoints and better target customers with personalized marketing. But the extra work that goes into data integration, analytics, and content creation makes it hard to use. In fact, only one in six marketers make the most of their hub’s features. Setting up journeys also slows down output because it takes more work to plan and coordinate them.
One example of a circle that seems impossible to break is multichannel hubs: when something changes, like a new channel or an innovation, marketers buy technology to try it out, only to find that it doesn’t work as well as they thought it would. Gartner called this cycle the “trough of disillusionment” because it happens so often.
When a new tool comes out, marketers have to decide whether to ignore it or use it. Should they make the most of what they have? Or would it be better to just jump? Which will give them an edge over their competitors?
Getting more value by coordinating multimedia and martech
You can get out of this situation by bringing together your martech and multichannel strategy and adopting a new plan to help you decide whether to improve or change.
First, think about your biggest business problems from two different points of view. Do the problems call for a new way to connect with customers, like talking to them more often through more channels? And do these problems mean that martech needs to change a lot? Let’s say that your company has already built a strong base with current technologies and is now ready to use AI. Then all you have to do is put your plan into action and make changes to it so that it fits your market.
Using creative AI is one example of a problem that might need a lot of attention and resources to solve. For some companies, using a mobile app to get more people involved is a big step forward that needs a big change in the tools marketers use and how they use them.
But with AI, all marketers have to make a choice: improve what you already have or take a big step into the unknown. Wait or jump before your rivals do.
To figure out what to do, ask things like, “How much and how quickly do you think generative AI will change your industry?” or “How are you using martech right now?” or “How well does your marketing technology stack fit your needs across multiple channels?”
Take the same method to a multichannel dilemma as you did when you thought about too many channels and problems with planning the customer journey. Either keep investing in channels that have already been shown to work and make them better, or completely reorient channels toward useful customer outcomes.
Ask things like, “How competitive is the customer experience in my field?” and “How interested do I want my customers to be in my brand?” and “How many times a month do customers want to talk to you?” Is that number going up? “If so, how fast?”
One of four methods can help you coordinate the use of new marketing technology features in multichannel programs and make sure they are adopted.
- Accelerate: Make your current multichannel and martech plans better.
To make small improvements for both martech and multichannel needs, use trusted tools like martech audits and roadmaps. Check the position often to make sure the roadmap is going in the right direction and at the right speed.
When it comes to marketing technology, look for areas where two or more tools can do the same thing and combine tools that do the same thing. Find high-potential spots in the channel plan where the customer journeys can be boosted as well.
- Revive: Make engagement a top priority with a plan that adapts to each channel.
Focus on making the relationship between IT and marketing stronger by coming up with a shared digital goal. This will make sure that the two teams work together and are on the same page. If the business goals and customer needs allow it, you might also want to add new platforms or routes-to-market.
It is suggested that you add more use cases for martech to support paths that change based on real-time signals that show what people need. Use the customer’s voice and quantitative research to rebuild journeys, figure out what they need, and make a good channel plan.
- Augment: Get new powers from new martech.
Make a plan for how to connect the money you spend on marketing technology with the different ways you market. Size-of-opportunity models can be used to look at new use cases and figure out if they are possible and what effect they will have. Working together with marketing teams to make sure that changes bring the most value and use is key.
When it comes to marketing technology, focus on creative AI use cases that can be used with multiple marketing tools to get the most out of them and save time and money. To really understand what customers want and need, you should also use the voice of the customer and quantitative research to rebuild their journeys and build your channel plan.
- Change the game: Use AI to test out new ways to go to market
- Follow these important tips to make a plan that matches your investments in marketing technology and your multichannel marketing programs:
- Check to see if customers are open to a higher level of engagement and make sure that any new efforts are in line with what customers want.
- Find out how much time you have to create a new cycle of engagement that keeps going on its own, taking into account the tools and skills that are needed. Look for technologies that can be combined to make your marketing stack more adaptable and flexible.
- The channel plan should include improving the skills of multichannel teams and changing the budget to support flexibility. This will make it easier to integrate and improve performance across all channels.
With this new framework for guiding both martech and multichannel strategies, you can make AI decisions that are less risky and more dependent on each other.
